


Till Death Do Us Part

by Lemonbear



Category: Durham County, due South
Genre: Angst and Humor, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-06
Updated: 2018-02-06
Packaged: 2019-03-14 15:44:22
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,637
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13593264
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lemonbear/pseuds/Lemonbear
Summary: Mike is seriously hurt in the line of duty and Ray has to deal with caring for him ..... leaving both of them dealing with the fallout of it.Leaning against the doorframe of their bedroom his hands pushed deep into his jeans pockets Ray quietly watches as Mike finally sleeps.





	Till Death Do Us Part

Leaning against the doorframe of their bedroom his hands pushed deep into his jeans pockets Ray quietly watches as Mike finally sleeps, he can’t help but notice the dark circles under his eyes standing out against his pale complexion and his lips drawn in a thin line giving Ray a clear indication that even after the large dose of medication he is still in pain.

Slowly moving his gaze down, and even though the bedroom is bathed in darkness he can clearly make out the white gauze and bandages wrapped tightly around Mike’s bare chest and stomach, standing out like a giant neon sign, screaming **_“YOU NEARLY FUCKING LOST HIM”_ ** over and over again.

This is their first full night at home together after Mike’s release from hospital, and Ray still couldn’t believe he had been such a jackass in discharging himself, but because he is still along way from recovered, it was easier to just go with it instead of having a fully blown fight; though he had made his feelings well and truly known, only to have Mike quietly say _“I can’t stay Ray ..... I just can’t .... not on my own … please”_ looking at him in that way that told him in a heart beat that he was so screwed it was unbelievable; there were very few occasions when Mike openly showed his vulnerability, but when it did happen Ray knew that there was no way on Earth he was going to say _“no_ ” to him.

Mike had agreed to all of his attending surgeon’s and Ray’s rules and demands way way too easily, but he still couldn’t help being wound tighter then a drum and scared shitless about caring for him, but he was going to do it without question, because Ray was also so grateful that his deep rooted fear that he could have been coming home to the apartment alone permanently hadn’t come true.

Slowly his mind drifted back to the day a few weeks ago when a normal Tuesday had within a few hours gone totally and utterly to shit, and had turned his, and that of Mike’s girls and also to some degree Audrey’s world upside down fucking faster then you could shake a stick at it.

It had started like any other, they had showered and eaten breakfast together and after a quick make out session that even after more than five years of living together, had instantly turned into a much longer one with Ray backed up against the front door with Mike pushed hard up against him kissing him hot and hungry, hands moving roughly all over Ray’s body, gripping tightly in all the places where he had left bruises and bite marks while he’d fucked Ray senseless the night before, serving up just the right amount of morning after pain.

Eventually when they had managed to force themselves apart they were gasping for breath, their faces flush with desire.

Ray smiled slightly as he remembered he’d placed his forehead against Mike’s and breathlessly told him _“I love you,”_ and Mike, who had openly struggled saying stuff like that when they had first got together, had looked Ray directly in the eyes while gently brushing his thumb back and forth across the still rapidly beating pulse point on the side of Ray’s neck; and breaking into that big bright open smile he softly whispered next to Ray’s ear _“Yeah I know but, I love you more”_ without a second though.

Once they had finally made themselves presentable they had finally gone their separate ways, Ray to the 2-7 and Mike to Internal Affairs, but a few hours in while Ray and his partner were interrogating a robbery suspect, Welsh had stormed into the room telling him that Mike had been shot while trying to arrest a corrupt cop who was threatening to take his own life, and was being rushed to Chicago Medical.

Grabbing his keys off his desk and jumping into the GTO, and breaking every road traffic law imaginable he had made the drive in record time to the hospital in a blind mind numbing panic.

Rushing into the reception, heart hammering in his chest, he had gone up to the desk flashed his badge and told them that his boyfriend Mike Sweeney had been brought in after a shooting and could they please let him know how he was, the nurse behind the counter had told him Mike was at that moment in surgery, and had apologised when she said she couldn’t give him anymore information then that as he wasn’t immediate family.

Ray remembered his anger raising not quite to Mike’s levels, but pretty close, he lived with the guy for fuck sake, they were a couple in every sense of the word, just because they were both male didn’t make their relationship any different to any other heterosexual couple.

Try as he might and explaining the situation to numerous people, his frustration sky rocketing, the situation didn’t change and out of desperation Ray had ended up ringing Stella, unable to keep the fear and hysteria out of his voice he had explained his predicament and asked for her help.

Stella obviously put a fire under someone’s ass because not ten minutes later Mike’s Commanding Officer was all of sudden standing in front of him apologising for not being there to meet him when he first arrived.

Asking Ray to follow him they ended up inside the family waiting room just outside the OR, where he gave Ray all the information he had to hand about the mornings events leading up to Mike being shot; Ray remembered listening to the guy talking to him and him nodding and okaying when it was appropriate, but nothing had really at that time sunk in, all his brain kept telling him was that Mike could die.

He remembered thinking of all the ways he had ever worried about Mike leaving him and how that one he had always pushed to the back of his mind, come to think of it they had never ever even discussed it, silly as that may sound bearing in mind the job they did, and the fact that Mike had lost his previous cop partner that way, in fact Caleb had died in Mike’s arms so maybe that was why, and somehow it had always felt like it could be tempting fate.

Ha, well that had turned out to be total bullshit, and if it hadn’t been such a serious situation Ray probably would have laughed at the irony of it, but instead of that he had stood there praying with every fibre of his being that this would turn out ok and he wouldn’t be left alone again.

He had never felt more helpless in his life, and there had been nothing he could do but wait, and add to that the emotionally charged phone call he had with Audrey and the girls telling them what limited information he had at that time and promising to call again as soon as he knew more, it had been the longest and hardest 8 hours of his life.

Pushing out of his lean Ray went and sat in the chair in the corner of the room, but not before he had to remove the jeans, t-shirt and hoodie, that had been haphazardly throw over it, Mike had been wearing those the night before and Ray during those long anxious weeks just couldn’t bring himself to pick them up and put them away.

He remembered he had been sitting down his leg frantically tapping up and down when he’d seen the surgeon coming towards him from the Operating Room, standing up and trying unsuccessfully to calm down just a little, he listened to what the Doctor had to say, he remembered that all his brain registered were words like, _flatlined, blood loss, penetrating chest wound, ruptured spleen and life-threatening_ , suddenly he released the breath he hadn’t realise he’d been holding when the word _critical_ and not _**dead**_ were spoken.

 ** _Critical_** gave him something to hold onto, and that something had been single-minded determination that he was going to pull Mike through this even if it killed him, then all of a sudden there had been this heart wrenching overwhelming need to see Mike for himself, to tell him how much he loved and needed him, to touch him and feel warm skin beneath his finger tips, to watch his chest rise and fall and it become all soul consuming.

Hearing Mike groan as he tried to shift his position Ray was quickly pulled out of his thoughts, but as he settled back down the memory of entering the Critical Care room for the first time, after Mike came out of surgery flooded Ray’s head, the machines, the tubes, the noise, the smell of sickness overwhelming his senses, but most of all the thing he wasn’t fucking prepared for was the sight of Mike, for the first few seconds Ray wasn’t sure if he was going the pass out, throw up or do both at the same time.

Closing his eyes and slowly inhaling and exhaling deep breathes, Ray fought desperately to stop shaking and get his emotions under some sort of control, before he lost it completely, Mike needed him and he was no use to him in that condition, and it was only when he felt a hand on the small of his back that he realised the nurse tending Mike had come to stand next to him, giving him a small sympathetic smile she gently guided him to the seat next to Mike’s bed, telling him she had been made aware that he was for want of a better word Mike’s other-half and he could stay as long as he wanted.


End file.
